Tsunami warning for California after 7.0 magnitude earthquake hits
People along the Northern California coastline have been urged to move inland due to the tsunami threat
A tsunami warning has been issued in California after a strong earthquake struck the state’s northern coast on Thursday morning.
The quake hit at 10.44am local time (6.44pm GMT) to the west of Ferndale, a small city in coastal Humboldt County near the Oregon border, according to the US Geological Survey.
Tremors could be detected as far south as San Francisco, where residents felt a rolling motion for several seconds, followed by smaller aftershocks.
The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, known as Bart, has stopped traffic in all directions through the underwater tunnel between San Francisco and Oakland.
At least 5.3 million people in California were issued a tsunami warning after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake, the US Geological Survey said, in a yellow alert, which means localised but minimal damage.
More than 1.3 million people lived close enough to the quake that they could have felt it, the USGS estimated.
The National Weather Service urged residents along the Northern California coastline, including in the San Francisco Bay Area, to move inland because of the threat of a tsunami.
This is a breaking story and will be updated soon.
